Another discussion regarding SPA FWA

[michaelpatko]

I simply refuse to pay $75 for a 13-14 Zemgus Girgensons FWA #999.
This card has been live for awhile now.
Why are there still so few to be found?
Is there so much unopened product that these haven't been redeemed in great numbers yet?

Ugh!

[30ranfordfan]

Some unredeemed, some that the redeemer took a replacement, and the fact that Upper Deck probably put less than 999 copies into the packs (they'll sit on half of them for a couple of years, and use them as "high end" replacements).

What does Cam Barker sell for these days? I think it hit $400 back in the day.

[mingus_md]

Some unredeemed, some that the redeemer took a replacement, and the fact that Upper Deck probably put less than 999 copies into the packs (they'll sit on half of them for a couple of years, and use them as "high end" replacements).

What does Cam Barker sell for these days? I think it hit $400 back in the day.

The comment about holding some back is interesting. I have been wondering why the Duclair FWA Redemption has been selling for so much. Based on your comment, there are probably less than 999 in the packs (which seems to be true based on the number of Hayes (which is live) I've seen compared to the number of Duclairs), which would explain the high price.

[geschrocks33]

The comment about holding some back is interesting. I have been wondering why the Duclair FWA Redemption has been selling for so much. Based on your comment, there are probably less than 999 in the packs (which seems to be true based on the number of Hayes (which is live) I've seen compared to the number of Duclairs), which would explain the high price.

This is something that appears evident that UD does. Same thing with Ty Rattie from this year...group breaker on a different site opened cases upon cases and has seen 1 Ty Rattie pulled and it sells for $50 + on ebay. Still baffles me how UD can get away with their shady practices but whatever

I too am frustrated with the cost of Sabres FW Autos from last year. If I'm not mistaken Ristolainen is the same way

[debtriddin]

There is only one reason that UD does this and it is simply to generate sales. I may be wrong but UD has no interest in the secondary market. It's frustrating for collectors. I'm a FWA collector and that is a primary focus of my collection. If I want to complete those sets then I have to either pay those prices or find something that is much easier to complete. Yes the prices are greatly inflated and we all know that if those cards were live and all 999 were packed out that they would be worth a fraction of their current price. I'm still waiting to find out if the Pelly-Smith from 11-12 is going to be made. Last time chatting with UD they said yes but who knows.

Cheers Mike

[geschrocks33]

Maybe they'll send me a Girgensons FW with my replacement I requested LOL

[theboxbreaker96]

My opinion is that UD purposely holds back a couple of FWA Redemptions each year. Especially recently. Look at the redemptions from last year. Carrick, Girgensons, Grigiorenko, Ryan Murphy all are live and are impossible to find. Meanwhile Olli Maatta for example is very easy to find. Some from last year have yet to be made (Vatanen, Nieto, Risto, Gallagher)

Looking at this year some of those redemptions (when live) will be easy to get others will be impossible. I fully believe UD is behind that either they SPed the amount of redemptions put out, or they purposely hold them back. If there are /999 of them not everyone asks for replacements especially on one of the most collected sets.

UD is shady and I bet they do it for other redeptions too (Sid comes to mind as hes always redeption).

[30ranfordfan]

Here's what I see:

1. Every card they claim is on the checklist gets inserted into packs (in some quantity) but maybe via redemption.
2. They limit the number of redemptions that they pack out (as we all hate redemptions)
3. They don't really short print any of these cards (they just take longer to dish them out, and do it in unconventional ways)
4. Your boxes & cases almost always get the advertised number of hits (I say "almost" because I assume there are a few that don't... going to happen)

Call it shady if you want..... but they're delivering exactly what they promised, sort of.

[RGM81]

Wave 2, baby, that'll have everything.

Remember Limited from Panini, and how it was always riddled with redemptions? I remember seeing a dude get two in one box.

Scaling back on the release of those little white cards prevents that sense of redemption overload...and with 17 rookies who aren't live this year, it's probably the smartest move...even if it creates long-term pain for collectors. I wonder if they do that specifically with players that they fear won't get made, and they'll have their reasons for knowing that.

I've been hearing that they're working on getting Gallagher to sign his stuff pretty soon...for a couple months now LOL...and he was a guy that you could get the redemption card pretty easily at the time of release. Now, it's dried up quite a bit--there is only one rookie-year SPA redemption for him currently on the Bay, and I snapped up a Limited Moments last week--meaning that when those cards do hit the market they will be in huge demand. I suspect a few folks will have given up after a year and exchanged.

[theboxbreaker96]

I made a lot of money buying the redemptions cheap last year and selling them high. I was able to get all but Nieto, Vatanen, Girgensons and Risto before they went sky high. I remember selling the Carrick for $130 last year.

The only one I still have is Gallagher only because it has yet to be made.

This year they were high to begin with. I only picked up 2 so far.